The invention generally concerns overrunning clutches and, in particular, a combination thrust and retainer ring for holding the inner race of an overrunning clutch in position relative to an outer race, and for maintaining the associated clutch rollers within a raceway defined by the inner and outer races.
Many types of overrunning clutches are known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,361,237 discloses an overrunning clutch having an inner race typically fixed to a drive shaft and an outer race cooperating with the inner race to define a cylindrical raceway for a plurality of wedge assemblies and rollers. A pair of circular retainers are attached to the opposite sides of the outer race and extend adjacent the raceway to retain the wedges and the rollers. The inner race has opposed outwardly facing radial shoulders abutting a pair of sleeve bearings which, along with the retainers, are maintained in place by a pair of outer fittings or end caps attached to the outer race. A pair of seals are positioned between the sleeve bearings and the outer edges of the shoulders and are held in place by the end caps.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,844,391 discloses a sprag type freewheeling clutch having inner and outer cylindrical races forming a raceway. The sprags are held in the raceway by pins extending transverse to the longitudinal axis of the raceway, and the opposed ends of the pins are attached to a pair of circular cage plates. The outer surface of the inner raceway has a pair of circumferentially extending grooves formed therein for accepting a pair of spring rings which retain the cage plates and associated clutch elements between them in the raceway.
It is also known to provide a thrust bearing with lubrication grooves. U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,505 discloses a thrust bearing for use on a shaft against the face of a collar. The thrust bearing includes a base ring mounted on the shaft and having a plurality of shoes positioned on a surface facing the collar. A lubrication distribution groove is formed in the working face of each shoe and extends radially for substantially the entire length thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,421,425 discloses a fixed pad thrust bearing having a ring of sector-shaped pads separated by grooves and facing a thrust collar integral with the rotor of a turbomachine within a thrust bearing cage. The outer surface of the ring bears on a deformable ring and the inner surface of the pads is formed with radially extending grooves for supplying oil to the surface of the thrust collar.